Unlicensed vehicle trackers

Operators of unregistered vehicle tracking outfits in the country have two weeks to get their businesses licensed or face a clampdown by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). NCC’s director, legal and regulatory services, Ms. Josephine Amuwa said in spite of not getting licence, the firms have been placing advertisements in the media. According to her: “The provision of any communications service(s) by any person howsoever without the requisite authorisation by the commission is an offence punishable under S31 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.”

This is quite thoughtful of the commission. Ordinarily, what these firms have done contravenes the law and the NCC would not have been accused of breaking any law if it had swooped on their business premises without indulging them any benefit of an ultimatum. The kind of business that the companies are into has a lot of security implications. They collect other people’s vital information which ordinarily they could not have got if they had not been engaged in vehicle tracking. All over the world, such data is of concern to governments, hence, the need to have some form of hold on the firms handling them. This, the operators ought to have known.

But the NCC has acted wisely by giving them the benefit of an ultimatum. With 175 of them doing the business illegally, as it were; as against 17 licensed operators, closing down the companies would have meant throwing their employees into the already saturated labour market. This could compound the problem of unemployment that has reached a breaking point in the country. This comes with its social consequences. We should be seen to be encouraging entrepreneurship and not discouraging it, which is what would have resulted if the NCC had stuck to the dictates of the law.

Moreover, the security situation in the country as well as the large number of vehicles requiring vehicle tracking provide a huge market for the services of the companies. They are sought after by individuals and organisations desirous of giving extra protection to their vehicles. In spite of their imperfections, some of the companies have proved useful in the recovery of many vehicles stolen or snatched at gunpoint. In addition, many establishments have engaged the services of the vehicle trackers to monitor the movements of their vehicles and do sundry other monitoring activities.

In essence, the firms are providing invaluable services to the public and the more of them we have in the country, the better. That would even afford their customers more choices and engender competition which will further lead to reduction of the fees charged for their services. But they must regularise their operations. If the problem is the N500,000 that the NCC requires them to pay for the licence, there can be a way this can be addressed. For now, that is what the requirement is and it has to be complied with. By the time they obtain their licence, they can join their licensed colleagues to put pressure on the commission to review the fees.

So, the unlicensed vehicle tracking companies should take advantage of the two-week ultimatum given by the NCC to obtain their licence. The industry they operate in has a lot of power, and it should not be found in the wrong hands. Nothing short of international best practices is good for the industry, and this cannot be achieved when operators are operating outside of the law.